N7 The Broken Ones
by Kreidian
Summary: If War is Hell, do Soldiers become Demons; What can you do when the horrors of the Reapers get to be too much? Sometimes it's best to let the battlefield take you...
1. Chapter 1

_( **Author Prelude**: Yes this story involves the PTSD Huntress you find in the Hospital during the events of ME3. She is one of the many small but incredible side stories you find all throughout the the game if you're paying attention. The sort of tiny details that makes such a huge impact. _

_Part of me had always wanted to write a story of the unknown soldiers, the volunteer units that are constantly sent to deal with the worst the Reapers have to offer on a regular basis. To put it simply, I wanted to write about the multiplayer characters that I've built and played with almost as much as I've played Shepard herself. Among the multiplayer elites this Huntress would be one of many. _

_Even so I felt her story was significant, and I wanted to see it continue in a different direction. I can only hope I do her justice, as well as the many multiplayer related character I plan to add as the story progresses. And yes, every character in this story, including T'Goni herself, are representative of my multiplayer characters and kits. )_

* * *

She had been sitting on the bed in her room alone for hours now. A nurse - another Asari thankfully - had brought her some food earlier, stressing the importance of getting out with the others during the free periods. She had refused of course, she didn't want to take the risk. She didn't wan't to deal with the memories.

Perhaps soon they would approve her request. She managed to get reassigned here after all, maybe in time this would all be over.

Then the door opened. There was no knock, there was no care in the swing, there was no sign of any consideration for the resident of that room from behind the door as it swung wide open.

To her horror, the open door revealed a human standing on the other side.

The human walked in, there was no consideration in her manner that this was her room. By the Goddess, A Human in her Room!

The Human, a fierce woman with black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes, she strode about like she was meant to be there. She held a datapad which she looked over carefully, standing there casually as if unaware, or uncaring, about the trama she was causing her.

"Aeian T'Goni." The human said suddenly. Hearing her name felt like a whip cracking against her skin forcing her to sit up straighter.

"You don't belong here!" Aeian yelled glaring at the human.

"I'm a Spectre." the human said simply, "I belong where ever I need to be." She looked up and stared right back into the Asari's eyes. The Human's own piercing blue eyes was causing physical pain to Aeian under their shear intensity.

"Spectre? Human?" Aeian blurted out. Hearing herself say those words forced her to process the information, allowing her to come to a realization. "You're Commander Shepard."

"Bit of a no-brainer, isn't it." Shepard joked.

"Why? Why are you here?" the Asari insisted.

"I came across an interesting request at the Spectre office." Shepard said. She tossed the datapad in her hand onto the bed as sat down in a small chair opposite Aeian. Carefully Aeian picked up the datapad. She soon recognized the request, her request, to obtain a firearm.

"Why do you- What is this?" Aeian demanded.

"No one wants to deal with handing a psychologically damaged person a gun." Shepard explained, "Short of Spectre authorization, this request isn't leaving the beaurocratic cesspit that it came from."

"You?" Aeian said in shock, "You're the only one who can approve my request?"

"That's right." Shepard said simply.

Aeian put the datapad down. At this point she just didn't want to the human Spectre to see her hands shaking so much. Eventually she mustered enough courage to ask the question burning in her mind.

"Will you?" It was all the Asari could manage to say though her quivering voice, but it was enough.

"Yes, but not the way you planned." Shepard told her. She let Aeian's confusion spread across her face for a moment before explaining. "I did some research on you. Not just regarding the events at Tiptree, but your entire service history." Shepard leaned forward scrutinizing Aiean, "I don't say this often, so you can be damn well sure I mean it when I tell you. I'm impressed."

The room's silence punctuated Aeian's surprise at Shepard's words.

"What do you mean?" She asked finally.

"Just what I said." Shepard shrugged, "Your service record is impressive. Before you ended up in this nut house you were an extremely talented huntress. And to be blunt, you survived Tiptree when there's no reason you should have."

"I didn't deserve to survive!" Aeian cried out, she quickly forced herself to quiet down before adding, "Not after what I did."

"Bullshit." Shepard shot back. The outburst took Aeian completely by surprise. "I get it, you're hurt, you saw horrible things and you had to be just as horrible to survive. You blame yourself for what you did, and it broke you." Shepard crossed her arms before she continued, "I'm sure if I gave you a gun right now you'd just end up blowing your brains out. If I could I'd leave you in a big fucking padded cell for the rest of your life to let you figure your shit out, but right now we don't have that option. Unfortunately for you, you're too damn good to waste in this dump. We need you out there fighting. We're all fighting for our very survival, for all of us, not just your own. If you want a gun so badly, I'll give you one, out there, where the fight is."

"No! I can't, I can't go out there." Aeian began. Before she could say more she felt Shepard's hand on her shoulder.

The sensation almost made her scream out in pain, lashing out in biotic fury. She would have done just that but the moment she looked up her eye's met with Shepard's once again. She saw the eyes of someone who knew what she was capable of and yet she was not afraid. All she saw was determination, and concern for herself. Aeian felt there was nothing she could do to deter this human, nothing she could do to hurt her. Shepard simply looked at her for a moment, as if to assure her.

"I forgive you." Shepard said finally.

"..what?" Aeian said softly unable to understand what she was hearing.

"Perhaps I'm not the best suited for this sort of thing but I think it's something you need to hear." Shepard explained, "And being the first human Spectre you can consider me a suitable stand in representative of humanity. So let me say it again; I forgive you. I forgive you for killing those colonists, and I forgive you for enjoying it. I'm not going to say you weren't responsible at all, but you are not my enemy. The Reapers are. They are the ones who killed the colonists, not you. All you did was end their suffering."

"What does your forgiveness matter?" Aeian demanded angrily. "What makes you think I even want it?!"

Shepard didn't answer at first, instead she just let go of the Asari and picked up the datapad she had discarded earlier. She scanned through T'Goni's file as she turned around, letting the room fall entirely too silent as she searched for the information she was looking for.

"The little girl who was with you." Shepard began. Immediately a cold terror began to fill Aeian's thoughts with the memories. Shepard just continued, "Hilary Moreau. Did you know her big brother is a pilot in the Alliance navy? A really good one. Probably why she wanted to become a pilot so much. I'm telling you this because her brother Jeff is a really close friend of mine." Shepard looked back at the Asari huntress with an sad look on her face.

"I won't forgive you for killing her." Shepard told her, "Not because I don't want to, but because it's not my place to do so. Her brother Jeff is the only one who can. He doesn't know about you, not yet. You may think that you don't want forgiveness, but the truth is you wouldn't be here right now if you didn't need some kind of absolution. Lucky for you I know a trick that will get you just that."

"What is it?" Aeian asked despite herself.

"Retribution." Shepard smiled at her, it was a warmly terrifying experience, "Even the odds, and make the Reaper bastards pay for every single life. Then put your life on the line as many times as it takes until you've atoned for every human you've killed, and then double that for Hilary. And if you still want to die after that, then go down fighting. If you somehow managed to survive all that, maybe you'll finally be able to forgive yourself."

"Don't be stupid!" Aeian spat out. "Don't give me ridiculous ideas for doing the impossible. I know I'm damaged goods. No serious military unit would take me. All you want is just another foot soldier in your army."

"Of course." Shepard admitted without a hint of tact, "I never implied anything less. It might sound impossible to you, but trust me, I know from experience that nothing is impossible. You'll never know unless you try. And consider this, if you ever want to hold a gun again for any purpose what so ever, you'll have to do it on my terms. Also I wouldn't worry about finding a unit that would take you, I know the perfect place to put you, and just your luck I have the Spectre Authority to put you there."

The Spectre left the room just as suddenly as she had arrived. Aeian let out a sigh as she felt the pressure of being so close to a human begin to subside. Despite her best efforts she couldn't stop thinking about what Shepard had told her, about Hilary in particular. She felt a wetness across her cheek but it took a while before she realized it was a trail of tears. She never even remembered crying.

* * *

_"Commander Shepard! Once again I must strongly object to this course of action. Putting someone in her condition on the battlefield is recklessly dangerous."_

_"And if the situation were any different I would completely agree with you. But if you haven't noticed we're in the middle of a big fucking Reaper war."_

_"I understand but -"_

_"No you don't understand! You're living in a fantasy world here on the Citadel where you can safely ignore the reality of the war. People are dying by the billions. Whole systems are being wiped out while talented soldiers like her are allowed to wallow in pity and despair. Right now we need anyone who is even remotely capable of fighting out in the field killing as many Reaper forces as possible."_

_"In her current state she'll likely become a greater threat to her unit then to the the enemy."_

_"Clearly you have no understanding of the level of the Reaper threat. Even if what you say were true ... well let's say given the people I'm putting her with, she'll be in perfect company."_


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since she had left the hospital. Part of her was oddly elated just for the change of scenery and the chance to get away from the place. But for the most part she was still in a constant living hell. It was only the assorted range of prescription grade neuro balancers and sedatives that kept her from opening an airlock mid jump in mad hysteria. No matter how many times they told her otherwise, no matter how many times she checked, she always had that terrible sensation in the back of her mind that something dark and evil was lurking there. Even now she would constantly check her reflection in the mirror, just to make sure her eyes hadn't turned black.

"We'll be touching down in ten." The pilot called back interrupting Aeian's thoughts. The Asari simply shook her head and sat back down. The first ship out of the Citadel had been a Turian transport, for which she had been eternally grateful. The only other person on the ship were the pilot, his co-pilot, both Turian, and all the dextro Turian food supplies in their cargo.

She didn't know much about where she was going, only that it was some sort of staging area for unified forces. Now that she was so close she could feel the terror growing even higher. There would be humans there, there had to be, it would be nearly impossible to avoid them. What if she killed him, tore them apart with biotics, it would be so easy, what if she enjoyed it!

Instantly she stood up and looked at her reflection in the window. She could have sworn her eyes were pitch black. She blinked unconsciously and suddenly her eyes were blue once again.

"Sit the hell down!" The Turian pilot yelled back at her, "We'll be hitting the ground soon."

Aeian forced herself to take a seat as the inertial dampeners engaged around her. She continued to stare out the window. Beyond it was no longer the endless darkness of space but the increasing brightness of the planet's atmosphere in daylight.

The transport touch down groundside, and moments later the main cargo hatch opened. Aeian eventually made her way to the edge of the opening looking out onto the base from the view of the transport's hanger. Even from here she could already see a number of humans walking around. Though to her surprise there were quite a number of non-humans as well. Not just other Asari but also Salarians, Turians, Krogan, even a number of Drell as well. She intentionally focused her attention on anything non-human. She wondered feverishly if she would be able to avoid the rest of the humans on this base long enough to make it out without killing any of them.

Already she was feeling like her eyes were changing color.

"You gonna stand there all day admiring the scenery?" A harsh voice called out. Looking around Aeian noticed a Krogan standing at the foot of the trasport's walkway glaring back up at her. His face had plenty of scars showing from many battles of his past, his armor was thick and dirty, but it was clearly evident to Aeian's experienced eyes that the Krogan took very good care of his armor. She also noticed the large Revenant and Claymore guns he had strapped to his back weapon ports.

"It's not that, I ..." Aeian began but decided she didn't want to explain anything to anyone right now, "Are you here for me?"

"You T'Goni?" It felt more like the Krogan was insinuating something.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Follow me." The Krogan turned around and started walking away without hesitation.

If not for her military training, if not for the drilled in instinct to follow orders, Aeian wasn't sure she would have been able to force herself out of that transport. In the end she decided that following a Krogan around was better then risk running into a human along the way. She wondered if this Krogan was going to be her new commander. Perhaps they would put her in a unit without any humans. She could just manage that, she decided.

"Where are we going?" Aeian managed to ask as she dodged various personel while trying to keep up with the Krogan's fast stride.

"To meet our Squad Leader." The Krogan shot back. He turned his head back just enough to eye her without slowing down before adding, "You two get to meet before letting you into our unit."

"Our Squad Leader?" Aeian replied with subtle confusion, "I'm sorry I guess I just assumed you would be leading our unit."

The Krogan simply laughed at first, "Being a leader means making plans on and off the field of battle. I'm not much of a planner. I prefer to shoot things. Unless I'm in a bad mood."

"What happens when you're in a bad mood?" Aeian asked. She fully expected the Krogan to describe in great detail his capacity for destruction as most Krogan enjoy bragging about.

"I never remember." the Krogran shrugged instead and simply continued walking. The odd response caught Aeian offguard. Eventually she found herself running up to catch up to him.

"I'm sorry but I still don't know your name." the Asari told him after a moment of uncomfortable silent walking.

"That's because I havn't told you what it is." the Krogan responded simply.

"Well would you mind telling me now?" Aeian insisted.

"No I don't mind, I just won't bother." The Krogan said.

"Are you being intentionally difficult?" Aeian accused him, "You already know my name, if we're going to be serving in the same unit why won't you at least tell me yours?"

"Because you're not a part of my unit yet." The Krogan told her, "It's up to the Squad Leader to decide if you get to join us. Until then I'm not wasting my time getting to know you."

"I'd forgotten how surly Krogans could be." Aeian just said to herself. If the Krogan heard her he made no indication. Though for a moment Aeian was certain he had smiled at her words.

"Over there." The Krogan said suddenly. He was pointing towards a set of gear crates that had been laid out somewhat randomly in a semi circle.

Specifically he was pointing towards the woman sitting atop one of the crates towards the middle. She was wearing high end Alliance military heavy armor painted completely black. However she wore only the bottom half, like a pair of very thick heavy pants. The rest of it, including the helmet chest and gloves, was lying in pieces next to her on the crate top. She wore nothing else from the waist up save for a sports bra. Her impossibly blue eyes were framed by long free flowing hair as black as her armor. Only one species in the galaxy had hair like that.

Aeian could feel her heart trembling as she realized her new squad commander was a human.

The human female was reading through the contents of a datapad in her hand, one foot on the lip of the crate she was sitting on as she rested her elbow on one knee. She could not be more casually at odds with her surroundings, or perhaps she was far too comfortable.

How could she be so relaxed? Did she not realize the grave danger she was in?

Aeian must have stood there hesitating for some time because suddenly the Krogan who had escorted her decided to shove her forcefully forward towards the woman on the crates. Her honed Huntress instincts allowed her to react quickly, regaining her balance after momentarily stumbling forward. But that still left her bumbling about in front of her new Squad Leader, not exactly a good first impression.

The squad leader looked at her for a moment even after she had regained her composure. Whatever she could have thought of her, her expression showed her nothing at all.

"Thanks, Tor, that'll be all." The woman spoke finally, a strong confident voice. Aeian then realized she had been speaking to the Krogan who simply grunted something before turning around and walking away.

"So his name is Tor then." Aeian said eventually feeling very uncomfortable.

"Yeah," the Squad Leader spoke casually, "He give you that 'not part of my Krantt' speech?"

"Krantt?" Aeian asked before she could stop herself.

"Oh, so he didn't even get that far." The woman confirmed, "He must not like you."

The woman stood up and walked up to Aeian then extended a hand towards the Asari before adding, "My name's Sara."

The human might as well have brought out a live grenade covered in jagged poisoned spikes. It took all of her self control just to resist the urge to scream loudly destroy everything around her with biotics. As it was it was all Aeian could do to just stare at the human's bare hand in abject terror.

Sara just stood there for a moment, taking in her reaction, until she spoke, "Oh right, your human thing." She spoke simply and calmly. She wasn't offended, nor was she impressed; there was no pity, just an understanding and nothing more.

Aeian, by contrast, was feeling much more offended. She wasn't sure whether it was due more to being forced to deal so directly with this human, or the fact that she had just described her entire living hell as nothing more then a "thing".

"Ma'am!" Aeian spoke up, perhaps louder then she intended. "I would like an immediate transfer to a squad with no humans. I don't belong here and you're only putting your life at risk by having me here." Aeian glared as hard as she could. She wasn't looking at the human however - she didn't trust herself enough to do that - but she was determined to stand firm to her request.

Sara just shrugged, "If it helps don't think of me as human. You wouldn't be the first one." She turned as if to walk away but paused first to motion Aeian to follow her, "Come on, leave your stuff here, we have a few things to discuss." She began walking and once again Aeian was forced to follow. At that moment she honestly didn't know what else to do.

"Even if I wanted to kick you out I wouldn't." Sara began, "You're here as a favor, and I always keep my promises."

"What do you mean?" Aeian asked.

Sara made it a point to look at the Asari before explaining, "Commander Shepard personally put you here for a reason."

"Then the only reason I'm here is because you owe the Commander a favor." Aeian said bitterly.

"No." Sara replied, "You're here because Shepard owed me the favor." After a beat she added, "Long story. Also not relevant, you're here now and I'm not about to let you go that easily." She continued walking heading towards the outskirts of the base.

"I read your file." Sara continued, "Every detail. Shepard always was thorough. Anyone else and you'd be left to rot in some loony bin."

"So why don't you just leave me there already." Aeian said, clearly aggravated.

"This isn't that kind of unit." Sara told her, "You're not the only head-case soldier out there, not by a long shot. But against this enemy we need anyone who can hold a gun. And that in a nutshell is why you're here."

By this point they had reached the outer edge of the base, behind one of the larger storage units. There were a number of empty discarded crates lying around on one side, the other was dominated by the back wall of the storage unit. Sara quickly reached one of the maintenance panels to expose some of the water pipes used by the warehouse systems. Opening another compartment Sara pulled out a long hose, quickly attaching it to a feed port of one of the exposed water pipes. The ease in which she managed this task hinted to Aeian that this human might have had prior experience with a remote colony settlement.

"Just what kind of a unit is this then?" Aeian asked dismissively.

"The kindest name the unit's ever been called was 'Broken Angels'." Sara commented matter-of-factly as she continued working on the pipe, "Mostly we're just referred to as 'the Broken Ones'. I won't bother you with the less then polite names I've heard." Aeian didn't try to hide her confusion, wondering if her translator missed some important context in those names. Sara just continued walking, "Everyone in the unit is here because they were deemed unfit to serve with any other unit. In short everyone here is just as broken as you are."

"That sounds like a recipe for disaster." Aeian sneered.

"You're probably right." Sara laughed. She grabbed the other end of the hose and simply threw it into one of the empty crates, making sure to get enough of it in the crate that it wouldn't fall out on its own. "Not too many folks who will take us seriously. At best all the brass is hoping for is we take out as many of the enemy combatants as possible before our inevitable self destruction. But I don't intend to let that happen."

Despite her words, her demeanor remained inappropriately casual as she walked back to the exposed pipes and opened the valve which sent water flowing freely through the hose into the empty crate. The crates were rated for universal space transport which meant they were designed to be air tight. As such it quickly filled with a pool of water.

"Then this is utterly pointless." Aeian told her, not even bothering to decipher her intentions anymore, "I'd be better off back at the hospital staring at the wall."

"I'm not sure you'd be better off." Sara replied, "But you sure wouldn't be as useful."

"STOP IT! Stop saying that!" Aeian was screaming, and only barely realized it, she didn't even notice the tears as they fell, "I'm only here because someone had to use Spectre authority just to get me out of the damn hospital in the first place. I'm only barely functional due entirely to effectively swimming in sedatives and anti-psychotic medication. I can't close my eyes without seeing the faces of the people I've killed. Don't try to convince me of some imaginary value when every fiber of my being tells me that I can and will kill every human around me at any moment!"

"Then do it!" Sara growled back, her eyes locked with Aeian's and suddenly she could not look away under her intense gaze. The Squad leader moved purposefully towards her utterly unconcerned with the danger she was literally walking into. "If you're so afraid of killing me then just get it the fuck over with. Kill me right now! Rip me apart with your biotics. Slam my skull into that wall until it's painted with bits of my brain and blood. Don't just talk shit about how dangerous you are, fucking prove it. Come on, I dare you!"

But the Aeian didn't, she could not even fathom why. Her thoughts could only focus on the human before her; it was like watching a moth getting closer and closer to the flame that would kill her. And as the flame, she just wanted to get away.

"No..." Aeian eventually muttered with a sudden meekness as the fear and memories swam before her. But the human kept walking forward, staring right into the darkest parts of her consciousness, daring the dark horrors there to come out. She took a step back, "... stop!"

Sara instead kept moving forward, and Aeian was forced to take another step back, then another, and another. Every move Sara made towards her Aeian matched with another move backwards.

"Make no mistake you wouldn't be here if I didn't think you could be useful to me." Sara said forcefully as if ordering the reality around her to follow her lead, "It's my job to make the absolute most out of every single person in this unit. Even if I have to drag your ass through the fire personally!"

"You don't understand." Aeian pleaded weakly. "You weren't there."

"I've been in worse." Sara with a sudden care in her voice, "I may not understand everything you've been through but what I do know is you haven't tried to kill me the entire time I've been taunting you. Even after giving you every opportunity to do just that. It tells me you're not quite the dangerous lunatic you want to think you are. Even if you were, you're not something I can't handle. All you need to do is trust that I'm going to do everything I can to make you a valuable member of this unit."

"How could you even begin to manage something like that?" Aeian asked, though she meant it to insinuate her skepticism a small part of her begged for an answer that might end her nightmare.

"For starters, there's this." Sara said with an suspiciously mirthful hint in her voice.

The next instant she pushed Aeian backwards too quickly for the huntress to react. She realized too late that during the last exchange she had backed up to the edge of the crate Sara had just filled with water. Left completely unbalanced and unprepared, Aeian could do nothing as she fell completely into the water.


	3. Chapter 3

Water completely enveloped her as Aeian struggled to regain her bearings. Eventually she reached out with hands and feet to the walls of the crate she had been dumped in. Once she got oriented she immediately righted herself and pushed herself out of the water.

She was greeted by the open barrel of a Carnifex heavy pistol.

Instinctively she reacted to defend herself, thrusting out her hand sending out a blast of biotic energy against her attacker. The warping waves of gravity slammed against the water that surrounded her sending it flying in all directions. The pistol in front of her did not move.

Sara held the pistol firm before her. It was only now that Aeian began to notice several aspects of her squad leader she had not realized before. This human was tall. Close to two meters, even accounting for her heavy armor boots Aeian realized that was an imposing height. On top of that she had a very athletic build, corded muscles rippled under her skin, speaking volumes of the intense training she much be accustomed to.

Most interesting however was the faint bluish glow that surrounded her raising barely more then an inch beyond her body. The water she had thrown about in her attack simply fell away from the thick glow, leaving the human completely dry despite all the water she had thrown around.

A barrier, and one powerful enough to resist the Asari's attack.

"You're a biotic." Aeian confirmed.

"We humans are not quite so fragile that we need you to worry about killing us all the time." Sara told her. It was jarring to hear that coming from a human.

"Are you going to shoot me?" Aeian questioned, unconsciously she could feel her muscles tense, building biotic energy in case she needed to defend herself.

"You mean this?" Sara gestured at the gun in her hand, "Nah, I just wanted to see how you'd react." She held the gun more casually now as she pointed the barrel away from the Asari

"Is all some kind of funny test to you?" Aeian demanded as she motioned to the wet scenery around her.

"Partly." Sara replied with a subtle smirk, then she added, "Mostly though, you needed a bath."

"Excuse me?" Aeian blurted out aggressively. Despite her facade of offense, the Asari was pretty sure she knew what the human was talking about.

"I did say I read your whole file." Sara explained, "I can see why you'd be afraid of taking a shower considering what happened. So worried you might get caught off guard again." Sara put a boot up on the edge of the crate, leaning one elbow on it as she held the gun in her other hand, "Of course the downside is, you stink. Which, incidentally, explains why Tor didn't like you. We're gonna have a hard enough time staying clean without you actively avoiding showers."

"And do you plan to dunk me in a bath against my will every day then?" Aeian scoffed.

"If I have to." Sara said seriously, "And if you're worried about getting caught unprepared again then I will stand watch, right here next to you, with this gun in my hand." The words had a bigger impact then Aeian would have imagined, and she felt her knees becoming inexplicably weak, causing her to sit down in the middle of the crated bath. The remaining water just barely coming up to her chest. Sara leaned forward cautiously as she continued softly, "I'm not saying I have the solution to all your problems, but I'll do whatever I need to do to make this unit as effective as possible. If that means standing guard while you bathe that's what I'll do. I'll protect you as often as you need it."

Aeian didn't respond. All of a sudden she felt a torrent of conflicting emotions after hearing those words. And a strange flutter in her chest she simply couldn't process now.

"You should take your clothes off now." Sara said bluntly, "But if you'd prefer to soak in your wet rags I suppose that's fine for now."

The Asari suddenly felt a terrible, embarrassing rush of blood running through her cheeks after hearing those words. The human standing over her merely smiled and turned around. Sara leaned back against the crate as if to give Aeian a bit of privacy, even as she stood guard over her.

Aeian wasn't sure what to do next. She was certain her new commander expected her to to strip her wet clothing so she could get a proper bath in, but she still wasn't quite comfortable with the idea. In the end she simply sat in the water, content to soak for now. Eventually she looked back up her eyes studying Sara from behind, she took notice of the human's exposed skin, the feminine form enhanced by her tight athletic build.

Aeian then decided to dunk her head under the water to help her clear her mind.

_This is ridiculous._ Aeian thought to herself, _I can't even think straight. I havn't been able to think straight since..._

The image of a little girl crying before her flashed in her mind. Immediately Aeian stood up, desperate to think about something else.

"You done already?" Sara asked her as she glanced back over her shoulder.

"I ... I suppose that's up to you isn't it?" Aeian shot back hesitantly.

"Sit down." Sara said with a smirk. Aeian opted to do as she said, it wasn't like any of the other options were any better at the moment. Sara brought her hand to her ear to activate her subvocal comms. "Eddie come in. I need you to grab a towel and BDU, bring them behind warehouse unit beta."

Aeian allowed her curiosity to ask, "So who is Eddie?"

Sara shook her head at first as she considered how to respond, "I suppose I should warn you, Edward is human, but only barely. If you can't resist the urge to kill him, I wouldn't blame you."

There was a deep pause as Aeian felt herself utterly at a loss for words. "Goddess must hate me."

"Maybe." Sara chuckled, "Or maybe she's giving you an opportunity."

"What in the Abyss does that mean?" Aeian demanded.

"Who knows." Sara shrugged, "Just sounded like something deep and profound to say."

Aeian decided that for the moment it would be best to avoid conversation with Sara. Right now it seemed to only make her even more insane. She wondered for a moment if things could possibly get any worse. Moments later, they did.

"Hey LT!" a male voice called out loudly from beyond the edge of the warehouse structure, "I come baring gifts!" From around the corner a human figure emerged. He wore an odd customized version of standard Alliance light armor. His hair was ruffled and a layer of unshaven scruff hung on his face. He also wore a strange ornament over his eyes which held a pair of lenses. He held the requested garments roughly under one arm. His expression grew a little too happy for Aeian's comfort upon surveying the watery scene.

"Well hey now." the man leered, "You know I once saw an extranet vid that started out just like this."

"That's far enough corporal." Sara ordered him.

"What? I'm just trying to be helpful." He insisted.

"Your version of being 'helpful' is the last thing we need right now." Sara warned him, "Just set the clothing down on the crate next to you and get back to your post."

"Man you are really being all sorts of disappointing right now you know that?" He complained mirthfully as he dropped the fabric he was holding onto a nearby crate without a care.

"What are you talking about now?" Sara asked with an obviously annoyed tone.

"I mean when I saw only the top half of your armor lying around I was hoping you'd be totally topless, but no such luck." The man explained, but clearly Sara was not amused, "And now you cruelly taunt me with this classic military shower scene waiting to happen only to send me away before it gets to the good part."

"Eddie, shut the fuck up and go away." Sara ordered him with a steely voice.

"Sure thing, but before I do let me just snag a picture or twenty." He said as he took a step forward. It was as far as he got before a loud gunshot stopped him in his tracks. The sparks of a ricochet off the wall next to him confirmed that the lieutenant's gun was in fact pointed in his direction. Sara held her gun steady in one hand as she eyed the corporal with an annoyed scowl.

"Right, back to my post it is." Eddie complied as he quickly turned and ran away.

Sara waited to make sure Eddie was out of earshot before holstering her gun. Aeian noticed that when collapsed the gun blended surprisingly well with the rest of her armor, which explained why she didn't notice it before. Still she knew she should have picked up on her weapon sooner.

"Well now you've met the squad so far, for better or worse." Sara said.

"So far? Are you expecting more psychotic squad members?" Aeian asked.

"The longer this war lasts the more people will get broken." Sara said. She walked up and grabbed the garments Eddie left behind for her then made her way back to Aeian. "But don't worry, it's not like we're letting every crazy motherfucker in here. Only the best fuck ups get to join the fun. I have very high standards for my psychotic squad mates."

"Not sure if I should be honored or insulted." Aeian told her.

"Probably both." Sara commented. She placed the clothing she had picked up next to the crate Aeian was still sitting in, adding, "Get changed. It's one thing to soak like that but I'm not going to have you walking around in wet clothing all day long." She patted the BDUs, "One size fits all I'm afraid."

Sara turned around a moved a few steps away before leaning against the wall of the warehouse unit. Once again Aeian felt she was being guarded, even as the Lieutenant tried to show her some measure of privacy. She didn't know why but Aeian decided to dunk her head into the water one last time before getting out of the crate. She quickly stripped out of her commando leathers, once naked she picked up the towel Sara has set down nearby.

_She only had the towel wrapped around her; in the end she tore it in half, wearing it as a sort of skirt with a top._

Aeian shut her eyes tightly as she forced herself to stop remembering. When she opened them again she looked at the towel in her hand. With some strain she dried herself as quickly as she could before dropping the towel to the ground. It was probably too quick, as Aeian could still feel the cool water against her bare skin which had been left behind. For now, at least, she decided it would be enough. She soon began manipulating the rest of the garments that had been left for her. She still felt very uncomfortable with the Human woman standing there, eventually deciding to make some kind of conversation.

"Corporal 'Eddie' seems to be quite the nuisance." Aeian commented, "Not exactly a great showing of your high standards for squad mates."

"You'd be surprised." Sara replied, "Eddie's actually one hell of a hacker, and a bit of a genius when it comes to omni tool fabrication. Oh who am I kidding, the man's fucking brilliant." She tilted her head to one side as she spoke, "Make no mistake he is a total jerk, and a complete pervert, but he's amazing when it comes to front line engineering support. Just don't tell him I said that."

"That doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would make him unfit to serve elsewhere." Aeian said.

"The problem is, being a genius like he is he tends to get bored easily." Sara sighed, "And his idea of entertaining himself includes swapping pay grades with admirals and getting lunch delivered to top secret military locations, leaving them with the bill of course." She turned her head slight towards the Asari before adding, "Word of advice, just assume he's read anything about you that's on record anywhere."

"Just as well, I already assumed everyone would find out about my little mental breakdown eventually." Aeian still couldn't completely hide her frustration, "So what about the Krogan?"

"Tor is pretty much a walking tank." Sara laughed, "Even for a Krogan, his capacity for overkill is pretty spectacular."

"Sure, but what's wrong with him?" This earned Aeian a sharp look from her commander, prompting her to add, "He's in this unit for a reason."

"It's complicated." Sara said dismissively, "Don't worry, not something you need to worry about. He's a great soldier, and a highly skilled combatant. Just think of him as our heavy artillery support. Plus he's proven himself to be a good friend."

"Alright." Aeian knew she would want to ask for details sometime, but for now she doubted the Lieutenant had anything else to say. She was done dressing by then, and there was really only one topic left to discuss. "So what you? I can guess you're a skilled biotic considering how easily your barrier deflected my attack."

Sara laughed blatantly in response.

"Is this a human thing? Or did I miss the joke somewhere?" Aeian crossed her arms as she waited for an explanation.

"Sorry, it's not like that." Sara eventually spoke with a smirk, "I'm actually a terrible biotic. I can generate a biotic field, sure, but no matter how much power I put into it, I can't extend it more then a couple of centimeters from my body at most."

"Wait, seriously?" Aeian's right brow raised slightly in disbelief.

"Yup. I couldn't do a basic throw if my life depended on it." Sara explained, "I can generate lots of biotic energy, but that's mostly through sheer determination. It's still not going to go anywhere unless I physically move there."

"That would explain the strength of your barriers" Aeian commented, "But if you can't expell the energy easily you must generate a lot of heat that way."

"Why do you think I dress the way I do." Sara said, "Even with the beefed up temperature regulators in my armor, I prefer to wear as little as possible underneathe. Gets way too stuffy in there otherwise."

"So if you're not here for your biotics then what else are you good at?" Aeian asked.

"Well I've been told I'm pretty good at hand to hand combat." Sara smiled knowingly as she clenched her fist.

As Aeian watched on, Sara created a biotic field around her arm, building primarily around her fist and forearm. Pretty soon the large amount of energy she had gathered - enough to cause a singularity - started glowing violently. Just as she had claimed, the energy could not move more then an inch or two beyond her skin. With her arm still glowing, Sara walked over to one of the more derelict crates. She quickly brought her fist down on the crate. To Aeian it felt like an explosion of biotic energy. When the dust cleared she could see the crate had been flattened with pieces of it torn asunder by the power behind the blow.

Sara looked back at Aeian still smiling as she told her, "What I'm really good at is making the most out of whatever's available to me."

"You discharged the pent up biotic energy by disrupting the field through physical contact." Aeian responded.

"See, you do know what you're doing." Sara walked past her moving deeper into the camp, "Let's head back, we have a briefing to get to in ten."


End file.
